A West Side Renaissance
The Rise of Lincoln Towers
In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, New York City was undergoing a renaissance of development and redevelopment, spurred by federal and state legislation, particularly Title I of the National Housing Act of 1949, which encouraged the renewal of entire neighborhoods, as opposed to individual buildings. With government funds for acquiring and clearing marginal urban areas available to augment the vision and capital of private developers, the face of New York City was being transformed.
On Manhattan’s West Side, that transformation included two major development projects located in the Lincoln Square Urban Renewal Area, which were constructed at about the same time, and only blocks away: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and, just one and one-half blocks north, Lincoln Towers (construction on Lincoln Towers did wait, however, until the 1961 movie version of “West Side Story,” filmed in part among the abandoned buildings that once stood there, was completed). Lincoln Center, with its Metropolitan Opera House, David Geffen Hall, David H. Koch theater, Juilliard School and many more buildings, parks and cultural attractions, runs from 62nd Street to 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues. The 20- acre Lincoln Towers campus runs from 66th Street to 70th Street on both sides of West End Avenue, bounded by Amsterdam Avenue on the east, and Riverside Boulevard on the west.
